Lawyers and county officials are teaming up on lawsuits in Pennsylvania in the latest battleground for litigation over lead paint, Forbes reports. Sherwin-Williams, the paint company who has been at the center of such legal battles in recent months, is asking a federal judge to stop these Pennsylvania cases before the get started.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals by Sherwin-Williams, leaving the paint company on the hook to pay more than $400 million for lead-paint remediation in the state of California. The California cases stemmed from allegations that paint companies ignored health damages caused by putting lead in paint, creating a "public nuisance" by promoting lead paint.
Three counties in Pennsylvania have filed lead paint lawsuits, with three more counties potentially filing similar lawsuits in the near future.
At issue is the theory of "public nuisance," which was rejected in similar cases in several states, like Ohio and Rhode Island, but was received favorably by California courts in a lawsuit that lasted 18 years.
There, ConAgra, NL Industries and Sherwin-Williams are on the hook for a bill of approximately $400 million, which will be used to pay for remediation work in the 10 counties and cities, led by Santa Clara County, that accused the companies of responsibility for a public nuisance.
One of the counties filing suit in Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, is also suing Atlantic Richfield, ConAgra, DuPoint, NL Industries, and PPG Industries. The county's lawsuit alleged that the "near-ubiquitous prior use and availability" of lead-based paints and pigments even after they were banned in 1978 continues to plague its residents. Sherwin-Williams is challenging the authority of government officials to leave the issue of justice to private lawyers often working for their own personal gain.
“The substantial financial burden currently being imposed on Sherwin-Williams by the imminent threat of these multiple lawsuits unlawfully brought by self-interested trial lawyers further justifies immediate determination and protection of Sherwin-Williams’ federal constitutional rights,” the company’s lawsuit says.
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